In a natal chart if two houses fall in signs that are ruled by the same planet, are the two houses matters directly connected in any way? I recall there already being a thread about this, but I can't seem to find it. Any assistance in finding the old thread if you remember what im talking about would be appreciated.

I think that this is a complicated question. My answer to this is yes and no.

To begin with, I think that there is a difference between whether the houses are adjacent houses under the same sign, or if they are the two signs ruled by the planet in question. If they are adjacent houses ruled by the same sign, I tend to analyze the houses together, adjusting for the nature of the house in question, and for any planets that are found in each of these houses.

If they have different signs, such as Scorpio and Aries, one must consider the relationship of the planet to each of these houses. In the above example, if Mars were in Aries, the house with Aries would be VERY strong, whereas the house with Scorpio would be less strong, because Mars in Aries can not "see" Scorpio, so will act as a bit of an absentee landlord, and this house will be more problematic for the native.

There are some axioms related to this, though, particularly in medical astrology, or so I have been reading recently. In particular, these axioms come into play if the houses connected this way are the 1st, 6th, or 8th Houses.

Yes to the above; the condition is known as "like engirding" in the Paulus Alexandrinus text translated by Robert Schmidt and is supposed to help with cancellation of aversion (a planet that can't cast a ray into a given sign is in aversion to said sign).

There is individual witnessing and testimony for each topic / house so a ruler such as Mars over Aries and Scorpio has dominion over 2 topics although Mars may have to submit to the authority of the Sun if the Sun can cast a ray into Aries and Mars is contrary to sect.

zoidsoft wrote:Yes to the above; the condition is known as "like engirding" in the Paulus Alexandrinus text translated by Robert Schmidt and is supposed to help with cancellation of aversion (a planet that can't cast a ray into a given sign is in aversion to said sign).

There is individual witnessing and testimony for each topic / house so a ruler such as Mars over Aries and Scorpio has dominion over 2 topics although Mars may have to submit to the authority of the Sun if the Sun can cast a ray into Aries and Mars is contrary to sect.

I dont remember where, I read that if the Sun is in an evil house,if its dispositor is i the next or better house it can act as a second sun
ex: Sun in Aries in 8th, Mars in 9th

thanks for the responses, im definitely gonna mull over this information for a bit.

AstroNovice, can you give an example of what you mean? Are you thinking of Capricorn and Aquarius, adjacent and both ruled by Saturn? Or are you thinking of duplicate signs on adjacent house cusps, as can occur with a quadrant house system? Or something like Taurus and Libra both ruled by Venus?

A good rule of thumb is, "The house over which a planet rules serves the purposes of the house in which that planet stands." (Karen Hamaker-Zondag)